College Roundup: Louisville Wins Barrel Battle
| HOW THE TOP 25 FARED |
| (1) Florida: won, 11-4, vs. South Florida |
| (2) Texas A&M: off |
| (3) Mississippi State: off |
| (4) Miami: won, 14-7, vs. Bethune-Cookman |
| (5) Texas Tech: won, 7-2, at Abilene Christian |
| (6) Mississippi: off |
| (7) Florida State: lost, 6-2, at Jacksonville |
| (8) South Carolina: won, 3-1, vs. Presbyterian College |
| (9) Louisville: won, 8-5, at (12) Vanderbilt |
| (10) Texas Christian: postponed vs. Stephen F. Austin |
| (11) Louisiana State: postponed at Notre Dame |
| (12) Vanderbilt: lost, 8-5, vs. (9) Louisville |
| (13) North Carolina State: off |
| (14) Rice: lost, 10-0, vs. Houston |
| (15) Virginia: off |
| (16) Oklahoma State: won, 8-7, in 11 innings, vs. Dallas Baptist |
| (17) Florida Atlantic: canceled at Ohio State |
| (18) Tulane: won, 5-2, vs. New Orleans |
| (19) Southern Mississippi: off |
| (20) Washington: off |
| (21) Arizona: off |
| (22) Cal State Fullerton: off |
| (23) Clemson: won, 13-4, vs. College of Charleston |
| (24) UC Santa Barbara: lost, 5-4, vs. Cal State Bakersfield |
| (25) Creighton: lost, 7-3, at Wichita State |
The barrel is going back to Louisville.
Fresh off their first road series win of the year at North Carolina, the No. 9 Cardinals (39-10) went to Nashville on Tuesday and defeated No. 12 Vanderbilt (36-13) to win the annual Battle of the Barrel between the two teams.
Second baseman Nick Solak, left fielder Drew Ellis and first baseman Danny Rosenbaum all homered for Louisville in the 8-5 win, chasing touted freshman righthander Donny Everett after just three innings.
Louisville sophomore righthander Kade McClure struck out a career-high eight batters in five innings, allowing just two runs to move to a perfect 10-0 on the season. Behind McClure, Louisville’s primary midweek starter, the Cardinals have gone 13-0 in midweek games this season.
The Cardinals aren’t alone in that midweek success. With an 11-4 victory against South Florida, No. 1 Florida (41-8) finished its 2016 midweek slate with a perfect 14-0 record and moved to 24-1 in non-conference play. With 41 wins, the Gators have tied a program high, last set by the 2011 Florida team.
“We did talk about the possibility of going undefeated in midweek games,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan told floridagators.com. “It’s extremely difficult to do because obviously you’re playing quality opponents in-state. They get excited to play the Gators. To be able to play at a high level with playing such a difficult SEC slate and to come and bring your game every Tuesday and Wednesday—it’s remarkable. I told the guys that I really wanted to finish this thing off.”
First baseman Peter Alonso went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs to support lefthander Scott Moss in the Florida win. The Gators will host Vanderbilt this upcoming weekend.
While the Cardinals and Gators continued their midweek prowess, it was a rough night for several Top 25 teams around the country, as No. 7 Florida State, No. 14 Rice, No. 24 UC Santa Barbara and No. 25 Creighton all dropped games to unranked opponents.
The Seminoles fell, 6-2, at Jacksonville (29-17), a team that is vying with Kennesaw State for first place in the Atlantic Sun. The Owls lost, 10-0, to visiting Houston, as the 28-19 Cougars look to make a late-season surge after a difficult start to conference play.
The Gauchos and Bluejays lost to Cal State Bakersfield (12-34) and Wichita State (18-31), respectively—two teams with 30-plus losses.
No. 16 Oklahoma State just narrowly avoided a loss of its own against Missouri Valley leader Dallas Baptist, forcing extra innings and winning on an 11th-inning single by Corey Hassel.
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